Warsong Blades
Introduction The Warsong Blades are an elite militant division of the Warsong armed forces. The Blades are a prestigious service order for warrior brothers demonstrating the greatest loyalty to the Warsong Clan. To be named to the Blades is a great honour, and publicly acknowledged members serve openly in the military and diplomatic posts of the clan. Privately, many Blades members act as the General's intelligence agency. Such agents conceal themselves with secret identities, operating in disguise as couriers, observers, spies, scouts and assassins throughout the horde. Their primary role is to be the best, the elite soldiers, agents and shamans of the Warsong Clan and to work towards the ultimate dominance of the Horde. The unit functions as a part of the Warsong Offensive, and maintains a presence in all Warsong Offensive holdings, currently maintaining a primary barracks in the fortress of Conquest Hold.The Blades were founded by the late General Speatus Crimsonwolf. After his death General Katalmach Duskclaw was passed leadership. Objectives The Blades have a series of key objectives. To honour Hellscream, both father and son. Grom Hellscream receives hero worship from the militant Blades, who seek to honour his spirit with the glory they can achieve in his name and the name of his son, Garrosh, who commands the loyalty of the Blades. To ensure the safety and security of the Horde, while working towards its ultimate dominance over Azeroth. To exalt the name of the Warsong Clan by fighting with strength and fearlessness, that the lesser clans may have an ideal to aspire to. Garrosh as Warchief. The Blades openly support Garrosh as a claimant to the Warchief's throne. This does not manifest in open disloyalty to Thrall, but as great conviction in Hellscream and what he stands for. History Founding After the Third War, the Warsong Clan was leaderless. It gave its loyalty to the Warchief, but without a true chieftain of its own, command fell to a series of officers appointed by Horde Command in Orgrimmar. Speatus Crimsonwolf was a shaman and soldier who fought under Grommash Hellscream's command as an officer. After the end of the Third War, he was an officer in command of the defense of the lumber camps in Ashenvale. He was reassigned by the clan's current commander, Drakkal Deathbringer, to a minor officer role in Orgrimmar do to restructuring the clan was undertaking to comply with the Warchief's dictates. Speatus, becoming bored and frustrated with the role that was assigned to him, joined the prestigious Ashen Order. Things soon changed when an unfortunate Silverwing ambush caught the legendary Grugg Blackworg by surprise and left him near crippled, unable to perform his duties and his role as a senior officer of the clan became vacant. Using the influence of his brother’s name within the clan, an old ‘acquaintance’ who had become a popular name in the Ogrimmar underground crime world (Cato Swordsong) and the official friends he had made during his time in Orgrimmar, Speatus was able to take the position and was even able to fund a small force of warriors as his personal guard. This force would soon become known as the fighting elite of the clan: the Warsong Blades. Crimsonwolf's Command In the time that followed, the Blades became a strong part of Warsong Clan structure. Being named to the Blades was seen as one of the highest honours a warrior could earn. Blades fought at the front line in Warsong Gultch, headed patrols and warbands across Ashenvale and the Barrens, and were used as elite agents to be sent on missions abroad. When Crimsonwolf went to Outland as part of the Thrallmar Offensive, he brought many of his Blades with him. It was there then that the Blades first encountered Garrosh Hellscream. Speatus made it his personal goal to make sure that one day the Warsong clan was once again headed by a Hellscream. He began to build a strong relationship with Garrosh, telling him stories of the days he use to fight at the side of his father Grom. Pledging himself to Garrosh’s cause, Speatus was named General, and the order of the Blades was soon drafted to be the personal force of Garrosh Hellscream. When Garrosh came to Azeroth, he brought him the warriors and shaman of the Mag'har under his command. With his arrival from Outland, the Warsong Clan once again had an undisputed leader of its own to rally around. The combined forces of the Warsong Clan and the Mag'har would form the beginning of Garrosh's mighty Warsong Offensive, which would grow with the inclusion of soldiers from the tauren, the darkspear tribe, the blood elves, and the Kor'kron itself. As the Offensive was being organized to be the Horde's finest army, the Blades stood at Garrosh's side as chosen elite in this new force. General Crimsonwolf kept his duties in Ashenvale, claiming Kargathia Keep as his own. But with the new battlefront about to erupt in Northrend, Hellscream's war in the north demanded attention. During this time, night elven opposition in Ashenvale was beginning to prepare for a new surge in the absence of the Warsong's finest. General Speatus was at Angrathar, the Wrath Gate, for what was meant to be a moment of glory for the Horde. Instead, it was tragedy. Speatus lost more than his wife and many of his men at the wrath gate incident. He was beginning to slide, and was no longer considered one of Garrosh’s prime Generals. Speatus’s frustrations were taken out on more than one individual, the most notable was his attack on the leader of the House of Sylvanas, Dr Fathius Archnazg Magnark, during a blood pact meeting concerning the Wrath gate incident. His reputation was suffering and he knew he had to take action soon. The Rise of Duskclaw While the war in the north was raging, the Warsong lumber camps in Ashenvale were targeted by for destruction by the kal'dorei, who had grown bold with the attention of the Warsong being fixed in Northrend. All the more troubling was the growing suspicion that the night elves were being aided by traitors from within the Horde. General Crimsonwolf appointed one of his Blades, Katalmach Duskclaw, as the Worgmaster of Ashenvale, to command the defense in the General's absence. Katalmach prepared a counter offensive against the elves, who would rarely allow the Warsong the opportunity to face them openly. But in order to limit the impact that traitors to the Horde could have on the battles to come, as well as civilian casualties, Katalmach proposed that Ashenvale be placed under lock down and that martial law be imposed. Receiving the authorization required from Garrosh at Speatus' urging, Katalmach's soldiers swiftly barred civilian access into Ashenvale, detaining any who stood in open defiance of Hellscream's order. With Ashenvale so restricted, he lured the night elves into the open by striking where it hurt. Warsong scouts diligently located creatures called "Ancients", the massive tree guardians of the kal'dorei. Leadings raids against these creatures, Katalmach had many of them put to the torch or cut down and shipped to the lumber camps (he would later send Garrosh the gift of a new banquet table carved completely from the body of an Ancient of War). This forced the Silverwings to mobilize openly in a desperate attempt to prevent any more Ancients from being found and killed . A series of battles would follow, and while the resulting Warsong victory did not end the war in the Gulch, it did force the night elves into a more defensive, conservative strategy. While this campaign was considered a success, there had been many dissenters to heavy-handed way in which the Warsong had imposed its law in Ashenvale. General Crimsonwolf's reputation as an officer was tarnished following the events of the Wrathgate, and he needed to secure victories in Northrend to silence his critics. In an attempt to regain his reputation and standing with the Offensive, Speatus used the Warsong Blades to claim large areas of land from Scourge control . One such operation would have seen his attempts successful and his name would have been called out on the streets of Orgrimmar, but it was not to be. General Crimsonwolf fell before the battle by a volley of arros. At the same time, Krohlm Blackblade, a Warsong Deathknight whom Speatus had given command of the Icecrown Offensive, mysteriously disappeared, leading some to speculate on his role in the General's death. In the wake of this blow to the Blades, Katalmach was appointed by Garrosh as Speatus' replacement. The newly appointed General Duskclaw remained in Ashenvale for a month to tie off loose ends, before moving his command to the fortress of Conquest Hold in the Grizzly Hills region of Northrend. Structure : The Warsong Blades are comprised primarily of the soldier rank, the "Blade". Each Blade starts as a recruit in the order, and then progresses to full rank after undergoing a test of strength. :The Blades are commanded by the General, who has supreme martial authority over those under his command.:Beneath the General stand the Blademasters, the champions of the order and the arbiters of the General's will.:The order is divided into the Packs, which function as battalions. Each pack is commanded by an Alpha, a high level officer. Alphas may appoint sergeants to serve as their personal aides. While the Blades function with a military chain of command, at times all the officers are required to give their input on matters of war and policy. The General, Blademasters and Alphas come together to form the Alpha Council, the governing body of the order. Relationships The Blades are members of the Blood Pact. Allies: Ashen Order Heritage of Zandalar House of Sylvanas Enemies: Keepers of the Grove The Grimwolves Salty Tide Privateers Bloodsail Blackhands The Warsong Blades have an extremely tense relasionship with the Greywolf Tribe. However, relations remain civil due to political reasons. Noteable Members General Katalmach Duskclaw - Current leader of the Warsong Blades General Speatus Crimsonwolf - Founder and former leader of the Warsong Blades Elder Nazrug Thundercaller - Second in command of the Warsong Blades Blademaster Krusg Crimsonblade - Champion of the Warsong Blades Blademaster Polkros Blackaxe - Blademaster of the Warsong Blades Category:Organizations Category:Orcs